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Course Syllabus
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Course Number
Course Credit
Course Title
Faculty/Department
Semester
Academic Year
Instructor
Condition
Status
Curriculum
Degree
Hours/week
Course Description
2202618
3 credits
The Modern American Novel
Graduate School/ Department of English
First
2006
Subenja Phaolaungthong
Elective
Master of Arts
Graduate
3 hours
An intensive study of selected representative American
novels and their social and literary background; critical
analysis and evaluation of the work itself and its
significance in the development of the modern
American novel; oral and written reports required.
14. Course Outline
14.1 Learning Objectives/ Behavioral Objectives:
1. Read the selected novels by modern and contemporary American
writers.
2. Participate actively in class discussions, which revolve around the
selected novels and the socio-cultural contexts of the twentieth century.
3. Give an oral presentation on a chosen topic of interest.
4. Formulate ideas in a coherent and scholarly fashion and write wellresearched, well-argued essays preferably demonstrating fresh insight
and extensive research on relevant critical texts.
14.2 Learning Contents
Week 1-2
Introduction, America at the Turn of the Century, Realism
and Naturalism, American Modernism
Week 3-4
My Ántonia
Week 5-6
The Great Gatsby
Week 7-9
As I Lay Dying
Week 10-11 On the Road
Week 12-14 Corregidora
Week 15-16 Obasan
September 26 (13.00-16.00) Final Exam
14.3 Method:
Lecture and discussion
90%
Presentation of the results of researching or the assigned tasks 10%
14.4 Media: Transparencies and DVDs
14.5 Assignment through Network System 14.6 Evaluation
14.6.1 Assessment of academic knowledge
40%
14.6.2 Assessment of work or classroom activities
7.5%
14.6.3 Assessment of the assigned tasks
52.5%
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Grading policy: The evaluation will be both criterion-based and groupbased with letter grades assigned according to the following criteria:
80% and above
A
75-79
B+
70-74
B
65-69
C+
60-64
C
55-59
D+
50-54
D
Less than 50
F
15. Reading List
15.1 Required Texts:
Willa Cather, My Ántonia (1918)
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925)
William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying (1930)
Jack Kerouac, On the Road (1957)
Gayl Jones, Corregidora (1975)
Joy Kogawa, Obasan (1981)
15.2 Supplementary Texts:
Bruccoli, Matthew J., ed. New Essays on the Great Gatsby. Cambridge:
Cambridge UP, 1985.
Tredell, Nicolas, ed. F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby. New York:
Columbia UP, 1999.
Lee, Brian. American Fiction 1865-1940. London & New York:
Longman, 1987.
Hilfer, Tony. American Fiction Since 1940. London & New York:
Longman, 1992.
Rhodes, Chip. Structures of the Jazz Age. London & New York: Verso,
1998.
Graham, Maryemma, ed. The Cambridge Companion to the African
American Novel. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004.
Berman, Ronald. Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and the Twenties. Alabama:
U of Alabama P, 2003.
Minter, David. A Cultural History of the American Novel: Henry James to
William Faulkner. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994.
Weinstein, Philip M., ed. The Cambridge Companion to William Faulkner.
Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995.
Grice, Helena, Candida Hepworth, Maria Lauret, and Martin Padget.
Beginning Ethnic American Literatures. Manchester & New York:
Manchester UP, 2001.
Caruth, Cathy, ed. and intro. Trauma: Explorations in Memory. Baltimore
and London: Johns Hopkins UP, 1995.
15.3 Research Articles/ Academic Articles
-15.4 Electronic Media or Websites: CU electronic databases (JSTOR,
EBSCOHOST, PROJECT MUSE)
16. Teacher Evaluation
16.1 Type of evaluation forms: Lecture + Discussion
16.2 Changes made in accordance with the previous evaluation: The reading list
has been revised.
16.3 This course will sharpen students’ intellectual capacity through intense
discussion. With specific illustrations from the novels discussed, this
course will also highlight the issues relating to ethics and social
responsibility and their relevance to students’ lives.